All familiar characters and events belong to Janet. Mistakes are mine.
For the sake of Lenny's manhood, and to keep Mary Lou's eyes and brain from exploding from too much sexy content, Ranger put on a tank top when we left our bed to join the staff on the beach to welcome Mary Lou and Lenny to the island. Half the reason I think Ranger picked this place to take me is how like an endurance race getting to the resort is ... an endless-feeling flight, an hour drive after landing, plus a quad-killing walk through thigh-high water just to reach the sand we're standing on now.
Though Ranger carried me from the boat to the beach, so I had zero reason to complain. And I already know Mary Lou is loving every second of this adventure.
"A private island, Steph! Off the African Coast?" She said in her outside voice when she saw us. "I can't believe this is my life!"
"It's pretty amazing, isn't it?" I asked, giving her a quick hug before doing the same with Lenny.
He and Ranger shook hands while Mary Lou blushed and offered an embarrassed smile to my hubby in greeting. I can't fault her for that. I had the same reaction to him, well … once I stopped being pissed about my life back then and fully focused on the man I wouldn't be able to live without.
"We're glad you could join us," Ranger told the Stankovics.
I'm sure he would have been happier with the trip remaining just the two of us, but he loves me and knows how much being able to spoil my best friend with the trip of a lifetime would mean to me.
"Thank you for including us," Lenny said. "Mary Lou deserved a vacation like this even before we had kids. I just wish I could've been the one to provide it for her."
"You've made her happy from that moment you asked her out in homeroom to today," I reminded him. "That's worth a heck of a lot more than a week-long vacation."
He smiled, partly in appreciation that I acknowledged he's living up to my and Mary Lou's expectations for him as a husband and father, and partly for not shaming him for not being in a financial position to treat them to this kind of escape.
"It's hard to separate Stephanie from the people she cares about," my hubby said in response. "This vacation is as much for her as it is to give the two of you a break."
"I get that. These two have been joined at the hip since I've known them."
"Lucky for you ... Steph liked you," Mary Lou teased.
"Don't I know it. I'd have been toast without her seal of approval."
"You're giving me too much credit," I said, as we walked the short distance to their home away from home. "Mare decided she was going to marry you about a minute after she saw you."
"Thanks for not telling me that. I would've bolted."
I rolled my eyes. "No … you wouldn't have. You were as obsessed with her as she was with you."
The smile they gave each other would've been disgusting if I wasn't hoping Ranger and I would be looking at each other the same way a decade from now.
My guy put their bags in their bedroom while the couple and I took a quick tour of their surroundings. It was almost a carbon copy of ours, except everything is bigger with Ranger.
"This place is incredible," Mary Lou said to us. "I can't believe I'm really here."
"You have seven days to get used to the idea," Ranger told her. "I suggest not wasting a moment of it."
"Why don't you guys get settled in and we can get together in the dining room for dinner?"
"But we came all this way to see you," Mary Lou protested.
"No, Mare. Ranger was giving us all a chance to relax far away from reality. Enjoy this time to talk to each other without worrying about the boys … or them hearing whatever you say."
"It's been so long since we've done that," Lenny said, "we'll need a solid hour to figure out how to un-censor ourselves."
"You've got all the time in the world," I assured them. "We'll see you in a bit."
Since we've had time to get used to having paradise almost all to ourselves, Ranger and I took a walk around the island. He kept my hand in his even when I wanted to walk into the waves to try and memorize how they feel crashing over my feet.
"I can't thank you enough for this," I whispered to him, my eyes scanning the literal ocean of blue in front of us.
"Just seeing you this happy is all the thanks I need."
The best thing about Ranger is that he actually means that. Spouting bullshit is not his thing.
"Lenny made me promise not to say anything about home except to swear that Rex and Grandma Mazur are doing good," Mary Lou rushed to say two hours later, "but I have to tell you this. Everyone says Shirley is the one who creates drama but turns out Eddie's worse. He said nothing to no one about you two getting married, not even to his wife, until Morelli was brought into the courtroom. Joe knew he couldn't react in front of the city putting him on trial, so we were all waiting to see if he survived surgery after he was shot just to hear his reaction to the news."
"That's kinda awful," I told her. "What he thinks or does makes no difference to me."
Mary Lou gave me an evil grin. "That's what makes this so awesome! You're happy and can't give less of a fuck about him, while I get to enjoy every second of pain he's going through. I've been waiting for this moment ever since he went on that Plum Poem writing spree. Leaving you to deal with the fallout is the only time that bastard left you alone."
